[SlightOfTongue]

I say BS! During reentry, a capsule is surrounded by ultra-hot, ionized gasses that make radio transmissions impossible. There is no way they could have heard such a thing, and moreover, once in orbit (essentially falling around the earth due to gravity), without some means of additional propulsion, it is impossible for a spacecraft to simply veer off course and fly off into space.

And YOU know all this because....

...you're a certified astronaut, right?

I'd say..space cadet, but astronaut? NOT!

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

No, I'm not an astronaut, but I have an electrical engineering degree and ionization blackout during re-entry is a well-known phenomenon, going back to the Mercury program, when there were no satellites around in the 1960s that could provide TDRSS.

Didn't you watch Apollo 13?

Causes and Mitigation of Radio Frequency (RF) Blackout During Reentry of Reusable Launch Vehicles